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Rashad's a bad match up for Anderson, anybody not wearing dickhead goggles knows this. You don't like Rashad, we get it.

Actually, wrong. I'm completely indifferent towards Rashad, I neither like him nor dislike him. And he's only a bad match up for Anderson IF he fights to a perfect gameplan and executes it perfectly for the entire fight, something which he's never done.

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But to say he hasn't proven himself at highest levels is absurd. He was the undefeated LHW champion, only Machida and JBJ can say that too. He has been beating fighters in the top 10 and even top 5 for at least 6 years now, with only 2 loses, two championship fights in which he had horrible gameplans for. So what if he didn't defend the belt? Neither did Machida and Shogun. He still became a champion. I don't buy into all this 'your not the champ until you defend the belt' bullshit that Matt Hughes came up with. Perhaps they aren't proven high level fighters either? He's the only one to go 5 rounds with Jones and actually make it competitive at some points in the fight.

And his road to the championship was filled with cream puffs, hell, Bisping's the only other high profile fighter I can think of with as many freebie fights on his record. His biggest win in the streak was a washed up Chuck Liddell who had just lost to Keith freakin' Jardine. I'll give him his due for beating Griffin, but let's be honest, he was getting solidly outpointed up until he lucked into a knockdown in round 3.

As for Machida, he defended his title against Shogun, whether you like the decision or not (I don't, but that's a different story). As for Shogun, he hasn't been an elite fighter since his win over Machida, his technique and fight smarts have gone to shit and he only pulls out wins because his toughness and and punching power.

Furthermore, gameplans, and the intelligence to recognize when they aren't working and make the appropriate adjustments are just as important as physical & technical skills. This, by the way is why Shogun sucks ass these days and why Rampage was able to squeak out a decision against Machida. As you've admitted yourself, Rashad is a complete dumbass with gameplans in championship fights, why do you suddenly expect him to grow a brain and fight smart against Anderson Silva? Let me guess, 3rd time's the charm? He had the stupid beaten out of him by Jon Jones? Until he proves otherwise, there's no reason to believe he'll fight smart and use the right gameplan, and unless he can do that he's dead meat against Anderson Silva.